How to Make the Most of your Mornings by Creating a Plan

When I was in college, oh so many years ago, I became a
master of scheduling my time. I poured
over the course catalog and class times in order to get the schedule that I
wanted, I created a plan. Either all
morning Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes; or classes that only met on Tuesday
and Thursday.

Why would I try so hard to do this?

The reason was because I wanted to make the most of the time
that I had. Using my mornings effectively helped me to accomplish my goals.

If I knew that I had four classes that I needed to take, why
wouldn’t I try to complete all of my classes by noon MWF? My friends were always amazed at how much “free”
time I seemed to have because I loaded all my classes into the mornings,
instead of having an 8am class, a 2:30 class and a 4pm class.

The difference between my friends and I was that I had a
plan that worked for me.

As I have gotten older, married, and now have three little
ones, the desire to have a good plan in place never went away, but the
variables changed quite a bit, obviously.

When I had my second child, I went through a period of time
where I couldn’t get a handle on anything. It was all so overwhelming; a toddler and a
newborn can do that to a person! I didn’t
have a schedule, my kids refused to be put on one, so instead I started a
rhythm, but it was still difficult for me to get anything done with all of life’s
little emergencies.

Instead of making things happen, I was letting things happen to me.

That isn’t a great way to go about life, and you certainly
won’t be able to accomplish anything if you are going that direction. Of course, being in the new baby years, there
is always a lot of room for change, and you have to go with what is given to
you for a large portion of that time, and that is OK.

However, I realized that I needed to attack my days with the
same precision that I exhibited when I was in college, albeit with a lot more
variables.

I started waking up early.

I wasn’t always a morning person, far from it. I remember growing up, my window faced the
East and the sun would stream in every.single.morning. Living in Maine, it was quite the early
sunrise in the summer. That, coupled
with my mom, who never seemed to sleep, getting ready early, and I was always
woken up, not by my choosing.

I’m still very crabby if someone else wakes me up in the morning, which is why I made the decision to wake up earlier than everyone else.

If I have the determination to get up early, I feel like I can
accomplish a lot during the day.

What helps me? Having
a plan.

My kids are extremely early risers. When I see parents talking about dragging
their kids out of bed for school, I envy them.
My oldest daughter, Emma, has always gotten up super early. Most days she is up by 6am and ready for the
day. That means that if I am going to
get up before her, I need to be up super early.

I start my days around 4:30 or 5am, knowing that if I don’t
get up that early, one of my children will be the thing that wakes me up, and
then I am not a happy camper.

I do not want my day
to happen to me, I want to make my day happen.

I realized that having a plan was the key. Knowing that when I wake up, I will go
downstairs, start the coffee pot, brush my teeth and then sit down to read my
Bible, journal, and plan out my day – that routine has made my mornings more
effective, even if my kids are getting up early.

I don’t want you to think that this goes smoothly, far from
it. Take this morning for instance. I got up at 5am, I came downstairs, made my
coffee, brushed my teeth, and at 5:15 Lucy woke up.

It used to be incredibly frustrating to me. How is it possible that I put so much work
into having a great morning routine, actually get up early, and then right when
I am ready to be productive, the baby wakes up, or one of the kids needs to use
the bathroom and then wants breakfast?

Having those interruptions was difficult for a long time, but I realized I
needed to change my thinking. I need to
make my plan work, even when there are interruptions. My life is not only my life, I have four
other people every day that I am with, and who impact every part of it.

Changing my thinking
was the key.

Lucy woke up, and I had done just about zero things on my
morning to-do list. But I, of course,
went upstairs, nursed her, and got her settled again. While I was doing that, I read my Bible on my
phone. Not exactly the way I like to
read my Bible (I have an entire set up that includes multiple journals and
pretty pens), but I was still able to get my Bible reading done, while I was
settling Lucy back down.

Having a plan in place, and then having a back-up plan when
the first plan doesn’t work is what has helped me.

I can’t get frustrated because I have three kids that need
me in the morning, when all I want to do is drink hot coffee. Instead, I need to joyfully greet the day
(and my family). It doesn’t always
happen that way, but often it will, and those are the best days for me.

Creating a morning plan was hard. I have so many things that I want to get done, it can be overwhelming, so I had to simplify.

On a good day I am able to get a lot done, but on most days
I have to scale it back.

That small routine is able to start my morning right, and
can be done even if there are a lot of interruptions. Of course I have a lot that I need and want
to accomplish in the morning, but being realistic about what I am able to do
helped with the disappointment when I am unable to check those items off the to-do list first thing in the morning.

Do you attack your
mornings with a plan? Have you attempted
a routine but outside factors throw you off?
Can you simplify?

I know that coming up with a plan, and writing it in my planner really helps me. I get so easily distracted that if I didn't have something like that to keep me on track I might never get anything done.

I love stacking my college classes! Last semester I did the same MWF, this semester I have Monday + Friday classes and 5 free days! My brain definitely works "the best" in the morning so going to class before I want to take my afternoon nap is vital.

"Create before I consume"- I love that. Having a morning routine is key I think, especially after adding children to the mix. For me, its not only having a routine but then having some flexibility with that routine that has made all the difference.

Kids taught me to be flexible. I like to wake up early and attack my to do list. But today my daughter woke up at the same time as me… I felt so cheated … but ended up sitting in front of the window holding her in my arms and it was so peaceful… the best laid plans…

The key to mastering mornings is for me to have at least an hour to myself before everyone else wakes up. When I do, I feel like I can handle anything. When I don't, it's not a good picture for anyone involved.

I envy those with normal sleep/wake hours! I work 12 hour night shifts as a nurse in a busy hospital so my sleep wake cycle is awful. My mornings start at 3pm sometimes! I recently went to part time at work in hopes to balance my life and i've already started to see a big improvement! So, now I can implement some of these things you mentioned!

I need to come up with plan. I need to get up earlier. I have been sleeping til noon. Jumping straight to Facebook. When I should drink a cup of coffee and start blogging. Hmm, maybe I need to start setting an alarm.

This is right on target for me. I even planned me classes as early in the day as possible when I was in college. I know this is what works for me, but I have a family of night owls that keep me up and then none of us are willing to rise up in the morning. It's still best if I can make myself get up and get going,though my husband prefers I stay in bed with him. It's a struggle for me.

I'm a morning person. Simply because mornings and me have never had any issues. Plus, you can go to the grocery store when it opens, and that's always nice 😉 I thoroughly enjoy being up before anyone else in the house is up. The Mister likes to sleep in as long as he can, and the dogs stay in bed as long as he will let them, so on Mondays, if I'm back by 7:30 from the grocery store, I'm almost guaranteed about 2 hours of quiet. And then everyone is up and people need clothes and dogs need going-out and everything comes to a halt. That part I'm not so fond of! But it's also nice, because I know I can't get too involved in anything before they are all up, so it normally means smaller tasks that I can hopefully finish beforehand, so I don't actually end up having to get interrupted by cranky people and/or pets 😉

Idea of "create before I consume". I'm a planner to the core, I get so much more accomplished! Im definitely a morning person and an early riser who gets the most accomplished first thing. When I don't have a plan I feel like I'm catching up all day long!